In the days after Hurricane Isaac, Entergy New Orleans officials contended that many of the power outages across New Orleans during and after the storm could have been avoided if utility workers were able to trim trees farther back from power lines than the city now allows. On Thursday, members of the City Council's Utility Committee seemed ready to consider extending the limit, currently set by the Parks and Parkways Department, from 4 feet to 8 feet, as the utility company has recommended.

Committee members voted to include a review of the city's pruning and tree-trimming policies as part of the broader review of the utility's maintenance program for its power lines and distribution infrastructure.

The meeting also included renewed discussion on the feasibility of burying Entergy's power lines.

State and local officials have questioned in recent weeks whether the utility spent enough money in recent years hardening its infrastructure, and whether it paid sufficient attention to rotting poles and the city's ever-encroaching tree canopy.

Several City Council members, including President Stacy Head and Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, chairwoman of the Utility Committee, stressed that the city should be cautious in making moves that would impact the tree line. Officials must balance "the realities of living in New Orleans with an urban canopy that we want to protect," Head said.

Burying power lines underground can cost about 10 times as much as building traditional overhead lines, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. To bury all the power lines in New Orleans would cost close to $1.5 billion, Entergy has said -- a steep price tag that would be passed on to customers.

Council members suggested, however, that the work could be staggered over a decade or more, to help avoid a sharp spike in power bills. They also suggested the work could be timed with scheduled repairs on hundreds of miles of sewer and water lines across the city, and raised the possibility of burying the lines while streets are already torn up.

In other matters, the committee voted unanimously to allow Energy Smart, the city's $11 million energy-efficiency program, to begin serving West Bank residents of Orleans Parish.

Previously, the initiative was not offered to Algiers residents because their electricity service is provided by Entergy Louisiana, a separate subsidiary of Entergy Corp.

New Orleans officials and executives at Entergy New Orleans say the program has made strides in cutting down on power consumption and helping save money for thousands of homeowners and businesses, in part by giving residential and commercial customers cash incentives for making improvements aimed at lowering their power consumption.

Both measures approved by the committee will now go before the full City Council for consideration.